Nikkor ED AF 300mm f/4

[Newtricks]

So I picked up this old tank of a lens (3lb, 8 1/2 X 3 1/2", 82mm front screw in filter) last week and have been shooting whatever catches my eye to get an idea of what it can do... this photo of the lemon was shot @ f/4 - 1/640 & converted from raw to jpeg without sharpening or any other alterations. For some reason, my bird photos aren't as crisp, any thoughts?

 

[Derrel]

Well, depth of field on a 300mm lens at close range is quite limited. For example, on the left side of the lemon is an ant, at around the 11 o'clock position on the lemon, but the ant is just behind the zone of sharpest focus. And while it might sound like it's an adequate speed, 1/640 leaves almost zero margin for error if the subject is moving, or the camera is moving a little bit, as the shutter is tripped. I shot some stuff two summers ago at 300mm at 1/640 at f/5.6 with my 70-300VR...the VR held steady, but my PEOPLE were for the most part, tinged with ever-so-slight "fringing"...subject motion blurring...people in DAYLIGHT, just standing around normally, and moving pretty slowly. On these newer, higher-MP camera system with 24+ MP, even the SLIGHTEST flaws show up nice and clearly!!!

If your focus placement is off even a couple of inches, the birds are not going to be tack-sharp. If you are swinging the camera and moving it as you shoot, the degree of magnification at close distances will very likely be recorded and be visible at FULL-size. However, if you take those captures and shrink them down to say 1,200 pixels on the long axis-BOOM! "Sharp enough for the web!"

 

[Newtricks]

Well, depth of field on a 300mm lens at close range is quite limited. For example, on the left side of the lemon is an ant, at around the 11 o'clock position on the lemon, but the ant is just behind the zone of sharpest focus. And while it might sound like it's an adequate speed, 1/640 leaves almost zero margin for error if the subject is moving, or the camera is moving a little bit, as the shutter is tripped... even the SLIGHTEST flaws show up nice and clearly!!!

I'm shooting handheld so slight camera movement is a possibility, though I learned good body and breath control skills while training to shoot in 500 - 1000 yard matches. Perhaps higher ISO and shutter speed is one answer.

If your focus placement is off even a couple of inches, the birds are not going to be tack-sharp.

I'm using single point focus and metering and focus is not controlled by the shutter release, for static subjects, I focus, frame then release the shutter. So there's another potential problem, the bird moved between the time I got critical focus and when I released the shutter.

If you are swinging the camera and moving it as you shoot, the degree of magnification at close distances will very likely be recorded and be visible at FULL-size

Very rarely are subjects close when I'm tracking/leading them for the shot.

However, if you take those captures and shrink them down to say 1,200 pixels on the long axis-BOOM! "Sharp enough for the web!

Heh heh heh, I'm shooting (most of the time) for print...